Wind Bites, Truth Hurts
by mastersam
Summary: A sequel, of a sort, to Stubborn Breeze, and also about twice as long. When Cecil arrives to rescue his beloved in exchange for the Earth Crystal, Barbariccia makes an offer to Rosa, stemming from her alien infatuation after the days spent in the Tower of Zot. Yuri, some non-con groping, and lots of tears.


The time had come. It was here, the moment of truth. Cecil was on his way, and had managed to strike down the last of the Magus Sisters; they had been no match for the might of his arm and the support of his comrades, all bound by his determination and love for the white mage that was still chained to a wall.

Said white mage had been there for several days now, barely given the necessary food to survive and the space to not soil herself. Barbariccia, the elemental fiend of air, the Empress of Wind, had kept watch of her the entire time. She had excused it as making sure that Rosa, the white mage, did not try to escape, but the fiend would always eye her with such longing, and it rolled from her in waves, riding on the spiraling winds that swirled around her. Throughout the days that she watched Rosa, Barbariccia would always approach her with a lusty glint in her eyes and an aura of sensuality. Each visit was accompanied by a series of touches and kisses, her tongue either slipping into Rosa's mouth or gliding over the mage's body, all accompanied by an offer of love and passion. And, every single time, Rosa would only return what involuntary reactions her body would give, her mind instead giving back nothing but despair and a wish to be free of the entire situation.

It was two days ago that such a thing had begun to change. Though she was never violated in a penetrative manner, Rosa could not help but acknowledge that, although she was emotionally distraught, her body drew some pleasure from Barbariccia's ministrations. It troubled her deeply that she could ever feel that way, but nevertheless, she felt it anyway. That time, she had leaned into Barbariccia's touch, taken the kisses with a hint of passion, and took in the fresh scent of the fiend's hair as it wrapped around her. That was the one and only time that Barbariccia had dared to reach between Rosa's legs, her breezy touch gracing the mage's valley. At first, Barbariccia was excited by the experience, filled with triumph that she had finally seduced the woman. She nearly went further, but, upon looking into Rosa's own eyes, she saw not mutual affection, but defeat. A once-proud woman, now a mere shell of her former self. Her heart was broken, and her soul was crushed.

The last thing that Barbariccia ever wanted was to have someone with no feeling left. There was, mainly, the fact that they were no fun. If one did not show emotion, she may as well have been making love to a statue of flesh, and the only statues she liked were those made of her foolish enemies. It all felt wrong to her, when there was nothing to be felt by both sides, even if it were pleasure for herself but fear for her victims. She mentally cursed Rubicante for having adopted so many of the ethical traits of those humans, when he could so easily make of them white ashes. As the most powerful of the four, he was also the most influential, and the thought that she could have subconsciously adopted a piece of his damnable code of conduct infuriated her. She cursed him again as she broke away from Rosa, the color of her eyes swirling like hurricanes, and she floated back, though her gaze did not leave the mage.

Rosa looked at Barbariccia with confusion and sadness, though the latter was not from a lack of the fiend's touch. "Wh-why... did you stop?" she whispered. "Have you decided to kill me now? Leave a mutilated corpse for my beloved to find?" Her voice, though weak and hoarse, had a certain amount of spite to it that was befitting someone who felt they had nothing to live for.

Barbariccia lashed out at Rosa, shooting forward through the air until their noses were touching. "You _dare _speak to _me_ without my consent!?" she barked, her voice howling, shrieking, and roaring simultaneously, as was befitting of a creature of the wind. She bared her fangs, gritting her teeth and rearing back as though she was going to rend the skin off of that mage's pretty little face with her vicious claws.

Tense seconds passed, the air whipping around the both of them. Then, slowly, both the winds and the Empress' hand and face fell. She grew forlorn, her eyes narrowed, and she pushed herself away from Rosa. "...No," she sighed. "I will not kill you. Not now." The breeze around her became bittersweet and moist, like an autumnal squall. Her eyes sparkled, and she turned away, floating from the room wordlessly.

She did not appear the next day.

Instead, it was Kain, who eyed Rosa silently. From what she could see under his helmet, she could determine how internally conflicted he was with everything. His love for her, his jealousy and envy towards Cecil, and his immense hatred towards Golbez and himself. He continued to stare for a few moments, then with a grunt and a deep breath, he left her alone.

The next morning, the day that Cecil had entered the Tower of Zot, however, Barbariccia did indeed appear. Her windy aura was harried, desperate, and, were Rosa to believe her gut instinct, even somewhat affectionate. Darting forward, she then embraced Rosa gently, one arm going around her waist and the other hand cradling the back of her head, Barbariccia's golden locks circling the pair all the while.

"Cecil. He is here," she stated. At that, Rosa's eyes lit up, and tears immediately began to stream down her face. The fiend kissed each side of the woman's face, taking upon her lips the first tears to fall. Her next kiss went to Rosa's own mouth, and she could feel a surge of hope and optimism beginning to course through the weak human, rejuvenating her with fresh emotion. Barbariccia knew that the only reason why she would be on the white mage's mind is because she was merely the one to bring the news, but she ignored that irritating detail.

"He... he is? You aren't lying?"

"I would never lie, especially to you. I am made of the wind, a part of the world with an undeniable existence. I tell the truth, for I _am_ a truth."

Rosa began to cry anew, this time with a smile. Her sobs made her shoulders lurch, and Barbariccia then held her tighter for a moment. She then floated behind Rosa's back, draping her arms around Rosa's middle and toying with the woman's slender, lean navel. Pressing her ample chest to Rosa's shoulder blades and her sharp jaw to Rosa's cheek, she whispered breathlessly, "...I have an offer. You must decide before Cecil arrives."

A silent nod was felt.

She continued, her voice softer than the lightest puffs of spring, "I want you, mortal. Your body is the subject of my adoration, each line and curve almost as perfect as my own. You would be the warmth of the sun that graces my fierce gales. We would, as we should, spend an eternity together, caressing, tasting, and ravishing each other."

What Rosa disliked the most about Barbariccia's proposition was that it was so tempting. Were it not for the devotion she felt to her knight in shining armor, she would have likely melted in the fiend's deceptively powerful arms.

"Master Golbez aims to kill you. He will have the Earth Crystal, and then the great blade above will shear you in half." Those words gave Rosa a feeling of dread that was as unwelcome as would be Scarmiglione's rotten, corrupting touch between her legs. "But if you were to... come with me..." said the fiend, her voice cracking slightly. It seemed she could barely spit it out. "You would have to fear nothing. I would even teach you the Words, _my_ Words, and we would both live beyond even Master Golbez's reach. All there would be to touch us is one another, our lips brushing, our hands grazing, our legs crossing," she finally managed to say. Her words were fraught with desperation.

Coming back around to Rosa's front, she took the woman by the shoulders. "If we are still here, if I have not whisked you away, Master Golbez will make sure that your friends' lives are taken by my hand. Yours as well, if you somehow survive the trap." Her eyes became the color of storm clouds and heavy mists. "I beg of you... Rosa. Do not make me ruin what you have left. Do not let me destroy you and all that you love," she pleaded.

Rosa's tear-streaked face, still moist, was wetted yet again as she felt so torn about such a decision. She did not find any pleasantry in the idea of her and Barbariccia being coital forever, but what little comfort she could garner from such an arrangement was that Cecil would live to fight another day. Her love for Cecil was the factor that kept her from adamantly opposing the fiend's proposal, and yet... that same love also was what persuaded her to reject the offer. If they were to die, so be it; she would pass away knowing that she would still be with Cecil forever.

"...No. I cannot stay with you, Barbariccia." Rosa's words were final and confident, having made her decision for good or for ill. The Empress' hands fell to her sides. "Very well then," she said, her voice croaking slightly. "I hope your soul will rest in peace once I reave it from your fragile body, Rosa."

That Barbariccia had started to refer to the white mage by her name made it all the worse for her. Something as powerful as an aspect of existence itself calling her anything but 'mortal' or something derogatory was, to say the least, significant. Still, it did not deter her from what she believed to be the best.

Barbariccia planted an almost nonexistent kiss on Rosa's lips before fading into the air. "When I return, I will not, _cannot_, be so kind. I hope you understand this," said the shifting winds, they too dissipating within moments. All that she could hope for was for Cecil to be strong.


End file.
